CEGETEL or NEUF ?

[joidevie]

I was wondering if anyone had any good / OK / bad experiences with either GEGETEL or NEUF as ISP's ? They are offering (up to) 20mb ADSL for €14.95 per month as a standard rate. ( extras on top )

Seems quite a bit cheaper than the others ?

[LesLauriers]

Take a look at this posting http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=290&MessageID=221438

If you are not degroupé then Cegetel is expensive, my personal experience of Neuf was frought with billing problems.

[Lori]

We have ADSL with Cegetel  14.95 Euros, unlimited access.  Every now and then their server goes down, but not too often and it is usually repaired within hours.

I haven't managed to find anything cheaper, but it may exist.  We were not required to sign a contract and can therefore cancel at any time.

 

[LesLauriers]

The trouble with Internet pricing is that it is all smoke and mirrors; very few companies have transparent pricing.

The Cegetel offer starts with a headline price of 14.90€, but the fine print states that this rises to 19.90€ after 12 months, you then add 7€ a month to avoid their expensive pre selection phone service, and you then add 3€ a month for their modem so whilst the headline cost is 14.90€ the true cost is 29.90€, but only if you live in a degroupée area.

Non degroupée the cost is 39.90€ a month, yes, you can cancel at any time but 40€ cancellation charge.

Either service can be reduced by 7€ a month if you decide to use their telephone service, but the first minute to UK is charged at 17.8cts in comparison to Free at 3cts and each minute thereafter is charged at double Free’s price of 3cts.

Free start with a headline price of 29.90€ and stays there, degroupée or non, but all your telephone calls inside France are free, the modem / router is free, Wi fi is 27€, 49€ with Cegetel, cancellation with Free is the cost of the Freebox modem 96€ reducing by 3€ a month until 0€, Cegetel is 40€ at any time.

Neuf come close to the Free deal but their call charges are again much more expensive.

Which ever service provider you choose, ensure that you understand all of the conditions attached and that you compare apples with apples.

[Lori]

Yes, I saw that fine print too.  However, I have to say that our calls to the UK are charged at .08 cents per minute - same to the U.S.  Since we were switching from AOL to Cegetel, the price difference was huge, so it still sounds okay to us.  If we find better, we will cancel.

[LesLauriers]

If you are using Cegetel, you may find that your average call is .08 of a Euro, not .08 of a cent ie you are more likely to be paying 8 cents a minute on average, in comparison to Free at 3 cents for the same.

" If we find better, we will cancel." I think you have just found it!

[joidevie]

Seems NEUF do a 512k service in a NON degroupée region for €14.90 pm..

This may be the cheapest option as Alice & Wanadoo both have a minimum of €29 ( albeit a much faster connection ie up to 8mb )

It seems you need to opt into their telephone tarifs, but they are quite competitive :

UK 0.05€ pm 24hrs

Local 0.9ct pm

National 3ct pm

French mobiles from 3ct/19ct off / on

Is this correct ?

No contract either.

[LesLauriers]

"Seems NEUF do a 512k service in a NON degroupée region for €14.90 pm..

This may be the cheapest option as Alice & Wanadoo both have a minimum of €29 ( albeit a much faster connection ie up to 8mb )"

The 14.90€ deal increases to 19.90€ after 1 year, 22.90€ including modem, 25.90€ including wi-fi. But a maximum speed of 512k. Free at 29.90€ includes modem, and free telephone calls to French landlines and will provide a speed of up to 10mb depending upon your line

"It seems you need to opt into their telephone tarifs, but they are quite competitive :

UK 0.05€ pm 24hrs

Local 0.9ct pm

National 3ct pm

French mobiles from 3ct/19ct off / on"

Neuf to UK 17cts 1st min then 5 cts, Free 3cts then 3cts

Neuf to UK mobile 1st min 44cts then 33cts, Free 22cts then 22cts

Neuf Local 1st min 12.9cts then .9cts, Free free/free

Neuf National 1st min 15cts then 3cts, Free free/free

Neuf to Orange 1st min 41cts then 19cts, Free 38cts then 16cts

It depends upon how much you use the telephone and wether or not you want or can obtain a higher speed connection.

As already stated my personal experience of Neuf billing was a nightmare, they did eventually agree in writing that they had overcharged by around 61€, but could I get them to repay it!